“Our God is a God of
victories. The Almighty Lord is our escape from death ... He gives
strength and power to His people. Thanks be to God!” (Psalm 68:20,35).
These words turn our thoughts to the great words of Paul in 1
Corinthians 15:57 - “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.” This victory is the triumph of Christ, risen
from the dead. The risen Christ - our Saviour and Lord - gives us
victory over our greatest enemy - “death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). It is
Christ’s triumph over the devil - “Jesus took on flesh and blood. He did
this so that, by dying, He would destroy the one who had power over
death (that is, the devil)”; “The reason that the Son of God appeared
was to destroy what the devil does” (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
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